The Kings Speech and changes to the housing sector
31st July, 2024
Britain has a new government for the first time in fourteen years. This government elected on 4 July with a sweeping majority promises to deliver significant change to the country.
With the new parliament now in session, the Kings Speech on 17 July set out what we might expect from this new government, and in particular, what changes can be expected for the housing sector.
Bills within the Kings Speech relevant to the housing sector:
- Planning and Infrastructure Bill
- (New) Renters’ Rights Bill
- Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill (Draft)
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
The government will reform planning and infrastructure to help them achieve their pledge to build 1.5 million homes in 5 years. It will become easier for local authorities to approve planning applications and also set out both local and national targets for building houses.
This Bill will speed up the consent process and reform existing planning committees. By making the planning sector more efficient, applications should be processed quicker, which will reduce the backlog and enable both local authorities and developers to commence operations sooner.
Furthermore, the Bill will also make it more efficient to undertake a housing development. This will be achieved by allowing developers to merge separate parcels of land to form a single development site. Not only will this lead to a more efficient use of land, it will create greater economies of scale, which will encourage further development and increase housing supply.
In addition to streamlining the planning process, the Bill has other key changes. Firstly, it will become easier for local authorities to conduct compulsory purchases of land, as well as preventing existing land owners from significantly inflating their property value. This aims to create a fair balance between the ability of councils to acquire land for development whilst protecting the rights of landowners. This will make it easier to develop and utilise land more efficiently, especially where it is put to providing more housing.
Secondly, the Bill also contains a sustainability aspect. Future development projects will be linked to improving nature and recovery initiatives in the local area. This will ensure that whilst development is nurtured by this Bill, it will be conducted in a sustainable and environmentally conscious way.
(New) Renters’ Rights Bill
The new government will introduce a Renters’ Rights Bill, which will be somewhat similar to the Bill introduced by the previous government before being dropped prior to the election.
The new Bill seeks to level the playing field between landlord and tenant and give renters more security over their living. The key change here will be an end to no-fault evictions. This will amend previous legislation that permits a landlord to evict a tenant without need for a stated reason. This change will immediately provide renters with more security and create greater stability for individuals and families alike.
The Bill also introduces further provisions to strengthen the rights of tenants, such as:
- Clarifying the grounds as to when landlords may retake possession of their property
- Making it easier for tenants to challenge rent increases
- Creating a new ombudsman service in the private rented sector to encourage the use of alternative dispute resolution
- Creating a database of landlords, so that tenants will have more information when deciding whether to rent a particular property
- Making it illegal for landlords to discriminate against tenants with children or who are in receipt of benefits
- Extending Awaab’s Law to the private sector, which requires landlords/agents to address damp and mould conditions within 24 hours of being notified.
Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill (draft):
Finally, it was mentioned in the Kings Speech that the government intends to reform the leasehold system and move towards creating more commonholds. Unlike the bills mentioned previously, this one remains in draft format and will be introduced much later in the parliamentary term.
This Bill intends to go further than the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act, which was passed by the previous government immediately prior to the election. Whilst this act did bring some necessary changes to the housing sector, such as banning the sale of new leaseholds and scrapping new ground rents, it failed to address other issues, such as capping existing ground rents, ending forfeiture and moving towards a commonhold system for leasehold flats. In the Kings Speech it was indicated that the new government has would like to revisit these issues.
As this remains in the early stages it is unclear exactly what changes we might expect but nonetheless this news will bring welcome relief to those who felt the previous legislation failed to deliver the real change they desired.
For more information about any of the upcoming changes get in touch with John Murray, or another of our expert Social Housing Lawyers.
Please note that this briefing is designed to be informative, not advisory and represents our understanding of English law and practice as at the date indicated. We would always recommend that you should seek specific guidance on any particular legal issue.
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